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AMC may abandon struggling downtown megaplex in Minneapolis

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — AMC is considering whether it will continue to operate the AMC Block E 15 in downtown Minneapolis when its current lease on the theater expires next year. At present, due to low revenue, AMC is essentially paying no rent. Recently, a court ruled that though the current lease terms requires Block E’s owners to extend a renewal of the lease, it does not need to be extended under the same terms as the current one. The theater opened in 2002 under Crown management; AMC took over when it bought Kerasotes which had acquired the the theater from Crown. Block E has lost several major tenants over the last year.

Under its current lease, the theater’s rent is based on a percentage of annual gross sales: 15 percent above $3 million, 20 percent above $5 million, or 25 percent above $7 million. According to Camelot’s lawsuit, AMC currently “is not paying any rent” to occupy the 84,000-square-foot, stadium-seating movie theater, which seems to imply that the tenant’s revenue has been below $3 million.

The judge acknowledged that the contract contains ambiguous language but stated that, in their differing interpretations, Camelot presented the stronger argument. The ruling determined that the lease offers a renewal, but not an extension.

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Comments (4)

They built a plex in the Westfield Annapolis Mall, Annapolis MD near me, which I considered one of the better run plexes in the DC metro area. They had crew members intro the movies (but sadly discontinued when BowTie took over) and currently have several THX certified auditoriums with excellent projection and sound.

I vaguely remember their website and this theater. I think it was all THX cert at one time. I’ve only been to Minneapolis once but never visited the place. Free rent sounds nice though. AMC should enjoy it while it lasts.